New Zealand Frogs & Reptiles

DSC_2752 Tuatara tick (Amblyomma sphenodonti) in the neck folds of an adult female tuatara. Even rarer than their host, these ticks have a very restricted distribution and only occur on eight offshore islands, each of which have a resident population of tuatara. Tick loads on individual tuatara vary from zero, through to extremely high levels, with
one individual recorded as carrying over 500 ticks! Stephens Island *